Lionel Messi delivered one of the defining individual performances of his extraordinary career on his 200th international appearance, scoring a hat-trick as Argentina beat their Group J opponents 3-0 in the defending champions' World Cup opener. The treble moves him level with Miroslav Klose on 16 World Cup goals - the all-time record - and, with his 39th birthday just days away, makes him the oldest player in history to score three times in a single World Cup match.
Messi looked driven from the first whistle, his intent evident even before the referee disallowed an early effort for offside. He opened the scoring with a trademark strike from outside the area - the kind of finish that has defined his career across club and country - then added a second after the interval by reacting fastest to a goalkeeper's save. The hat-trick was completed with a low, composed finish from the edge of the box, sealing a commanding 3-0 win. It was the first treble of his World Cup career, spanning five tournaments and nearly two decades of service to La Albiceleste. There is a world of sporting ambition on display in a performance like this, a quality that transcends disciplines - even those as niche as scommesse bandy attract dedicated followers who understand the pull of watching a master operate at the peak of their craft.
The milestone he has now reached carries enormous weight in the history of the game. Klose's 16 goals for Germany were widely considered an unassailable record when the former striker set it at Brazil 2014, having also broken the previous mark held by Brazilian great Ronaldo - whose five goals in 2002 were matched and then surpassed across three subsequent tournaments. Klose's final tally was built across four World Cups, reaching its peak on the night Germany defeated the host nation 7-1 in Belo Horizonte. Messi has now equalled it, arriving at 16 with a hat-trick at an age when most elite footballers have long stepped away from the international stage.
A Record Built Across Twenty Years
Messi's World Cup journey began in Germany in 2006, a teenage talent given his first taste of football's grandest stage. South Africa 2010 produced no goals as Argentina exited in the quarter-finals, a tournament that underlined how reliant the team was on collective structure rather than individual brilliance alone. By Brazil 2014, that dynamic had shifted: Messi drove Argentina to the final with four goals, earning the Golden Ball as best player despite the defeat to Germany in extra time. One goal followed in Russia 2018 before Qatar 2022 delivered his most complete World Cup performance - seven goals, a trophy, and the third star on the Argentine shirt.
Those cumulative 13 goals going into this tournament had left him three behind Klose's record. One hat-trick has erased that deficit entirely. He stands at 16, level with the German, and the question now is whether he can push beyond it in the knockout rounds.
Where Messi and the Other Greats Now Stand
The current World Cup top scorers' list, with Messi's hat-trick factored in, reads as a roll call of the game's most consequential forwards:
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) - 16 goals
- Lionel Messi (Argentina) - 16 goals
- Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal) - 15 goals, with the chance to add more in this tournament
- Gerd Müller (West Germany) and Kylian Mbappé (France) - joint fourth, following Mbappé's brace against Senegal
Ronaldo's position is significant. The Portuguese forward, like Messi, is participating in what may be his final World Cup, and the prospect of both men chasing the same record simultaneously gives this tournament a compelling subplot beyond the team competition. Mbappé's brace places the France striker firmly among the all-time greats at just this stage of his career, signalling that the next generation is already pressing against history.
The Significance of Cap 200 and What Comes Next
That Messi chose his 200th international appearance to produce a first World Cup hat-trick is the kind of symmetry that football occasionally, almost reluctantly, offers its greatest players. He is 38 years old, operating for Inter Miami in MLS, and still producing this at a World Cup. The age record he has set - oldest man to score a World Cup hat-trick - may prove as durable as Klose's goal tally once appeared.
Argentina, as holders, now have a platform to build on after an authoritative opening win. Messi's form suggests the defending champions are not here simply to participate. Whether he ends the tournament as the outright World Cup top scorer of all time will depend on how far Argentina progress - and on how much Messi still has to give, a question this performance answered with considerable force.
